When earthquake hit Gujarat on 26 January 2001and more than 20000 people died, we thought as a society we would learn to cope with disaster better.   It seems that 20000 lives were not enough of a price to pay for shaking the bureaucracy and civil society to learn to cope with disasters with greater efficiency.   Most disasters after the first 24 hours assume more or less typical characteristics in which the problems can be anticipated and response system can be put in place.   We had developed a year later a Disaster Management Information System (www.sristi.org/dmis.html).   The idea was that civil society volunteers will provide information about what kind of support they can extend (material, professional, financial, technological, infrastructural, etc.), within what range of distance from their residence, and whether they will like their details to be put on the website.   For instance, about 118 ham radio operators in Gujarat had agreed to put their information through their associations in the database.   They can be directly contacted and their services requested for the purpose.  The question is, were they contacted in the recent disaster in the south India, perhaps not.   Similarly, transporters, crane owners, hardware stockists who have concrete cutters or other devices to clear the debris, medical professionals, mobile x-ray machines, mobile clinics, etc., are well known equipments and services needed in the hour of emergency.   We know that water bodies often get affected adversely and fresh water becomes a necessity.  In some cases, the water storage structures were damaged.   When electricity was resumed, the tubewells would work but where would one store the water.  

"PLEASE help us. We're hungry, outside without any shelter, its raining, we're cold" - A desperate plea from a young child who had lost 15 relatives, Hope that you have gone through Prof Anil Gupta's message regarding the J&K earth quake relief (JAKEQR) work.

As you know, the winter is fast approaching Kashmir. The cold has already set in. Many houses and schools have crumbled. Our brethren are pleading for help.

Lets help them!!

Two PGP2s -Javed and Suresh Chand- will be leaving for Uri (Kashmir) on Sunday, early morning. We are planning to send some medicines and extend financial support through them. We should be able to mobilise some resources for the same by then. We are trying to get the medical supplies-antibiotics, antipyretics and painkillers-from some of the major pharma companies in and around Ahmedabad. We would also be contacting companies in the area of marketing packaged food products . We are also trying to get help from sectors such as logistics for transportation of the collected materials.